I know I don't seem quite the same
by HiddenByFaeries
Summary: Naruto learns the hard way that there are consequences to sealing Bijuu into human vessels. Gen. Light Angst. Gift fic for black.k.kat


-slides in 6 months late- eyyyyyyyyyyy

ok, so I know this isn't an update for Dare, but RL my guys. I'm busy with work and editing a story I'm having published later on this year.

again, like always, no beta so all mistakes are mine

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At first, he didn't notice. He'd long since been told that his mom's - _his_ \- Clan was known for their longevity, for never aging til the very end. For their strong, powerful chakra. For their absolutely crazy thinking and way of life. And Naruto figured, it was a Clan thing.

Then- then it changed. He- he'd _died_ , his fucking head torn from his body, blood spray everywhere. All he remembers is Kurama's enraged roar and then, waking up. Whole. Unharmed. As youthful as ever. And he'd come awake during his own fucking funeral. To his friends, mourning his death. And that's when Naruto realized. He wasn't aging. He wasn't growing old, like everyone else had.

So. He ran. He couldn't stay there anymore, because now. Now everyone noticed when before they ignored it or put it down as an Uzumaki thing. _But it wasn't_! It… it wasn't.

It was a Jinchuuriki thing. The repercussion of Sealing Bijuu into human vessels. It made the human into something…...other. They were no longer human the moment the Bijuu was Sealed into them. This never became apparent because of how Jinchuuriki were treated, Bijuu transferred to a new vessel early enough and the way the Elemental Countries were like. It was never obvious.

Until Naruto died and came back from it, alive and whole. Then, no one could ignore it. Because there was no logical way to explain how he lived when everyone had seen his head being ripped off and saw Kurama being unleashed after his death. Only for him to be Sealed back into Naruto and for him to regain his head and come back alive.

So, Naruto ran. He couldn't. He couldn't go back, not after that.

He wandered all over the Elemental Countries, always looking behind his back in fear that Hunter-Nins would be after him. But still no one came after him. The only thing he had was a short letter sent to him via Summons from Shikamaru.

 _Naruto,_

 _We found long-lost notes that Uzumaki Mito wrote about what Sealing a Bijuu into a human vessel would cause. We know you and the others didn't know, but we also know that people will fear what they don't understand. I know this doesn't lessen the horror you must of felt, but go out there and live. You will always be our friend and we will always be there for you. But this is something that only Jinchuurikis can understand._

 _-Shikamaru_

After, he stopped. Just. Stopped. He couldn't go on, not with the knowledge that he was essentially immortal. Ageless. Humans are not meant to live forever, no matter what Orochimaru said and attempted. They needed the rest that came afterwards, that peace of letting your past life go and then being able to start again in their next life as a blank. And Naruto was denied that peace. All his friends, all his comrades would pass on and he would stay forever young, forever unchanged, alone.

Kurama, he didn't see anything wrong with this. Why would he? He was a Bijuu, that was all he knew. He came from the age of the Six Path Sage, when the world was young and humans were little more than ants to him. Bijuu never truly died. Their Chakra changed and they might "sleep" for a few centuries to rest from whatever ordeal, but they couldn't really, truly die. Not like everything else could.

And the thought of what he had become, what he was, finally settled in his bones. Naruto wasn't ashamed to say that he tried to kill himself. Several times. Over the course of many years. Something inside him broke that dreary day he woke up to his own funeral. And it would never be fixed.

Naruto hid away from the world after his last attempt. He couldn't stand it anymore. He was a broken man. So, he found a large tree, made a den inside it and slept. Hoping. Praying. That maybe this, this would give him the peace he wanted. Because he was tired, so so so tired of living. A century had passed when he finally fell into the Deep Sleep, all his friends, all his loved ones, dead. Gone. Konoha, the Hidden Villages, were no longer. War had destroyed them.

And so, he slept. The world changed around his slumbering form and the den he had made. He slept and didn't dream. Or. He did dream, but they felt more like memories, faded and long-forgotten. Slowly, nature took over what had been destroyed and humans advanced. And still, Naruto slept hidden from all.

Until something roused him from his Deep Sleep. A presence he half-forgotten. With difficulty, he open his eyes. Greyed blurs met his eyes, before slowly it sharpen and color came back. He rustily turned his head towards the presence that had woken him. Bright blue eyes widen, tears streaming unchecked.

A young man knelt in front of him. Pale skin, dark hair framed his equally dark eyes, some hair stuck in the back of his head. He wore strange clothing, in strange fabrics that Naruto had never seen before. But he knew this person. Knew him like he knew himself. The young man's eyes bore into his, brows furrowed in deep thought.

"I know you. I know your face. But I've never seen you before til I stumbled upon this weird place." he spoke at long last.

Naruto rasped in a breath, shakily lifting his weak arm out. The young man hesitated for a moment before he carefully grasped Naruto's outreached hand. Naruto gripped his hand, crying even harder.

"I-" he coughed harshly, throat dry. "I know _you_." he whispered tearfully.

" _I know you_. Sasuke-" he coughed again, body spasming from Naruto becoming active again after centuries of being motionless.

"How do you know my name?" Sasuke asked, hand still gripping Naruto's.

Wheezing, Naruto slowly rose up from his den, moving to lay on his side to face Sasuke better.

"I've slept for so long. So. Long. You. You look like my most precious person, when we were young." he rasped out.

Sasuke's brows furrowed again. He stared into Naruto's eyes, before something inside him shifted.

"Naruto?" he whispered, a wealth of knowledge and emotions layered in his voice.

"Hey, teme." Naruto whispered back, wiping his tears with his free hand. Only to be dragged into a warm chest, arms gripping him tightly. His found their way around Sasuke, and he finally sobbed into the shoulder his face was burrowed into.


End file.
